Door joint



v G. c. Bon-N DooR JOINT Filed Dec. 2, '1919 AMW' Patented May zo, 1924.

UNITED STATES GEBHARD C. BOHN, 0F ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

DOR JOINT.

Application med December 2, 1919.

T 0 all whom 'it may concer/nf:

Be it known that. I. GERHARD C. BOHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Iniproveinents in Door Joints, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to seals for refrigerator doors and more particularly to the closure for the ice chamber, and has for one of its objects to provide a built-in sealing element interposed between the edge of the door and the casing surrounding it, thereby excluding the cold air within the chamber from the deep interstiees formed around the edge of the comparatively thick door.

These interstices in ordinary refrigerators are more or less in open communication with the atmosphere, it being impossible to so tit the hard meeting surfaces of the door and door frame. so as to render the joint air tight.

The presence of the cold air in the interstices so reduces the temperature of that part of the casing 'structure immediately surrounding the door as to cause condensation of the moisture in the air thereon, both outside of the refrigerator and in said interstices. This condensation or sweating as it is sometimes called, is very injurious to the wood structure, especially to'that portion forming the door sill.

A further object of the invent-ion is to provide a `metallic sheathing 'for the door sill having a break therein so as to prevent the direct passage of cold to, or adjacent to the front of the refrigerator` thus. tending to maintain a higher temperature in the sill structure.

To this end the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed. 1n the drawings forming part of the specitication:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front view of a refrigerator.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view of one corner of the inside of the door, and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the door latch.

In Figure 1 of the drawings A designates a refrigerator and B a door, the latter ivotally supported by means of hinges 1 one Serial No. 341,934.

only being shown) in a manner to form a closure for the. food chamber C. The door opening of the ice chamber C is rectangular in shape. the jainbs, sill and top thereof being formed with progressive offsets so as to form shoulders 2 and 8 respectively.

As shown in the drawings the casing is constructed of several superposed layers of wood to form said shoulders` the joints between the layers being exposed to any water that might accumulate on the door sill. To protect these joints against invading moisture applicant provides a metallic sheathing 4 extending from the shoulder 3,almost to Y the outer face 5 of the. refrigerator, thereby covering the joint 6 in the casing. Likewise the innermost rail 7 which is rectangular in cross section and forms part. ofthe door frame` is covered by a sheathing 8 the latter extending to within a short distance of the upper edge 9 of the shoulder 5l. Thus, it will be noted that a break in the sheathing is effected by omitting to cover the face of the shoulder 8.

The door B is shown constructed along its edges with progressively arranged shoulders l0 and ll corresponding to shoulders 2 and 3 in the door opening and loosely overlying the latter to form an air space A12, the lattercompletely surrounding the door when it. is in closed position. The body of the. door may he huilt up in any suitable manner` the door shown in the drawings being formed with an outer overhangin lip to form a flat face. 13 extending beyon the door opening and adapted to flatly meet the face 5 to be held thereagainst by means of a suitable latch D. The latch shown, comprises a lever 14 pivotally mounted on the door so as to be swung to extend beyond the edge thereof and an outstanding hookshaped lug 15 on the casing adapted to embrace the lower edge of the lever, the embracing part thereof having an upwardly and outwardly inclined inner edge 16 to enga e the outer face of the lever to force the oor against the face 5 of the refrigerator. The center of the door comprises an insulated body portion suitably built up to contain a core of insulating material E, the latter being surrounded in part by an inwardly extending comparatively high thin rail 17, the base thereof being on a level with the shoulder 10 and a metallic cover 18 formed with a downturned flange 19 overlying said rail. The outer horizontally disposed face 2O of the rail is located a distance from the innermost4 edge of the rail 7 of the door openin Positioned in the space thus formed, w ich latter surrounds said insulated body ortion, is the two-section moulding mem WIArl F, a part thereof forming the shoulder 11 mentloned in the foregoing. The two-section moulding member comprises a comparatively wide thin main section .21 one of the wide faces thereof being formed at its outer edge with a projectingrid e 22 extending beyond said wide face, an the other wide face thereof having intermediate its long edges a longitudinal groove 23 formed with an arcuate bottom. The section 21 overlies the face 2O of the rail 17 and is suitably secured flatwise yto the latter, the ridge 22 being firmly pressed. against the fiange 19 to afford a tight joint thereat. Suitably secured, as by .nails 24, to the grooved side of section 21V is the section 25 the lattervbeing formedy with a longitudinal groove 26 adapted to register with the groove 23 so as to form a seat for a rubber tube 27 the outer edge of the section being spaced slightly from the shoulder 3. The combined size of the grooves 23 and 26 is greater than half the circumference of the rubber tube so that the latter is firmly locked in its seat when the two sections are secured in position on the door.

As indicated in Figure 4 the tube parts imbedded in the door, one for each edge thereof, are carefully mitred at the corners 28 so as to present a continuous convex yielding surface extending entirely around the door, the tube projecting longitudinally out of its groove at the juncture of the two sections. The tubewhich may be termed a sealing element, contacts as shown with the corner of the rail 7, when the door is in closed position, thereby forming an air tight joint between the ice chamber and the atmosphere.

Byusing a hollow sealing strip made of lresilient material, excessive unevenness in the jointmaking edge such as the corner 9 is easily conformed to. Further, a tubular sealin element is also more easily compresse v than a solid resilient mass, it requiringbut a slight pressure to indent the same.

In the construction of refrigerators, the juncture of the door and casing is obviously not insulated, the structure therealt becoming cooled and thereby tending t0 sustain condensation. A liberal sized air space such as is indicated by the numeral 12 operates as an insulating medium, applicant providing an air tight joint at its extreme inner end near the interior of the ice chamber. Thus, the airspace is rendered quite long and deep which affords excellent insulation between the interior and exterior of the refrigerator. f

I claim: y

1 In a refrigerator door joint, the combination of a door and door casing, the surrounding edge ofthe door and casing being formed respectively with offsets, a metallic covering for the inner face of the door overhanging the edges thereof, a pair of relatively superposed strips removably secured around the ed e of the door and having their meeting e ges formed with a seat, one strip being wider than the other and overapping and contacting with the overhanging edge of said door cover, and resilient sealing means secured in said seat between said strips upon attaching one strip t0 the other, rand projecting beyond the same to contact with the adjacent edge of the door casing.

2. In a refrigerator door joint, the cmbination of a door and a door casing, an offset formed in the edge of the door and door casing, respectively, a pair of relatively superposed strips removably secured to the edge of the door, a sheet-like cover for the door, a bend in the edge thereof extending over the edge of the door, means whereby one of the superposed strips engages the bent portion of the sheet-like door cover to secure it in place, resilient means interlockingly engaged by the relatively superposed strips to contact with an adjacent edge of the door casing, and a metal protecting strip formed to fit the offset of the sill portion of the door but non-continuous from the inside to the outside thereof.

In testimony whereof I ailix my si nature.

GEBHARD C. B HN. 

